12V to 120V Inverters?

[Matt Meiser]

I think we've decided to head to Acadia National Park for a few days as part of our vacation this summer thanks to recommendations here and from friends. However I learned that their campground doesn't have electric or water so we'll be using battery power for an extended time period. The camper has a big deep cycle battery, 12v lights, 12v water pump, etc. And our fridge has a propane mode so my only concerns (in this order of priority) are 1) making coffee and 2) recharging the deep cycle battery.

I'm thinking about buying an inverter so we can run the coffee pot off the truck's electrical system. I'm thinking I'd want to get a decent size one but really have no idea what too look for in them.

I'm also wondering if I could take my battery charger and run it off the inverter to recharge the camper battery if needed. That would recharge the deep cycle battery much faster than just charging off the truck, meaning less engine idling and less gas usage. The charger draws 490W.

I'm guessing generators aren't allowed and even if they were ours is much too big and I don't want to buy one of those little Hondas for one trip.

[Joe Pelonio]

I have a 250W Coleman inverter that I use for work. It will handle a reciprocating saw, and a hammer drill, and the battery charger that I have which is a slower one that draws less than yours. It's not the small kind that plugs into the lighter or 12V dash socket, I have to attach it to the car battery with the large alligator clips. It came from an auto parts store, but I have seen 2000 watt inverters at Harbor Freight, about $150 and also up to 5000 watt versions for more.

[Jim Kountz]

Matt you're going to want an inverter of at least 1000 watts for a coffee pot. Make sure its "actual" wattage too and not just advertised. There is a difference. You can run your battery charger just fine off the inverter for quite a while actually.
Our bands bus has two deep cycles and we run the inverter and the charger off one which powers all our stuff (tv, DVD, small fridge) and charges the other battery at the same time. After about four hours or so we switch the batteries and start the engine and let it run for about 20-30 minutes (diesel bus) and this has worked for us for years. Of course the batteries are both being charges anytime the bus is running like in route. We have everything on a series of switches so we can isolate each battery, run them together for 24 volt etc. You wont need to do any of that for your application though.
Another alternative for your coffee would be a regular old perculator on the gas stove top. Makes great coffee!!

[phil harold]

We carried an extra battery all charged up when we had to places with no power

+1 regular old perculator on wood fire...

for the past couple years, we have been doing all the cooking on a wood fire while camping, even so we have a microwave, stove, and propane grill

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Matt, a 1,200 watt coffee maker would draw 1,200 watts from the battery plus inverter losses.

That's more than 100 amperes from your battery. The installation is going to look welding cables.

We travel by motorcycle so we have a single burner stove that burns gasoline and a small coffee percolator bought at a camping store.

Liquid fuel is a lot better option than 12VDC when you're trying to make heat.

Regards, Rod.

[Paul Ryan]

I Agree with rod. A coffe pot is going to draw a lot of amps off of 12v DC. Why not just use your camp stove or camp fire ring? The inverter is still a good idea for other things, to get the load off of your camper. I think the battery charger is a bad idea too. The 450 watts or so you are talking about is only 4 amps off of 110, but over 37 amps off of 12v. Thats a lot off continuous current off of a vehicle battery.

[Rob Russell]

For making coffee, just get a drip coffee pot. Then all you need to do is boil water.

[John Shuk]

I use a french press when camping and like it alot. My brothers make fun of me with the grit and stuff but who cares?

[Rob Russell]

The French press is fine, but also brews a somewhat more bitter coffee. If you get a regular drip pot that uses a paper filter, it's just like a regular coffee maker at home.

Here's a link to a suite where you can buy such items pretty inexpensively.

http://fantes.com/coffee-manualdrip.html

[Jim Kountz]

Matt, the band has a gig tomorrow, if I remember I'll take a couple of pics of our setup we use on our bus for you to look at. I can assure you what I mentioned above works and works just fine. Its a great self contained unit and its been in use for a number of years. If there was a problem with it we would have know by now. The cool part is one battery actually charging the other off the inverter. This is a common thing with tour buses for bands, entertainers etc. Believe me we werent the first ones to come up with this idea I know if hundreds of buses all over the country using a similar setup. If you want I can get you the actual model number and everything we used to build our system.

[Jon Knauft]

Matt,

Google 12 volt coffeemaker. There are several out there to choose from. I bought the Cuisinart earlier this year and will be testing it in two weeks when we go camping. I've read that they are slower but it would certainly save your battery.

As far as recharging your battery I've seen solar panels that are supposed to work like trickle chargers. I don't have any experience with them but it might be worth checking out.

-Jon

[Matt Meiser]

I knew about the 12V coffee makers but that wouldn't get used much where the inverter would have a number of other uses. But I think for less money than getting a big enough inverter we can get a second battery and one of those solar chargers. Harbor Freight sells a 15W one. I figure that should recharge our battery(ies) nicely during the day. Since I have a 20% coupon I think I'm going to buy it and try it out for a few weeks before our trip. I can always take it back if it doesn't work.

With the coffee pot, I also got to thinking that I could always just use our coffee pot and slowly dump water in to make coffee for three days. Plus Bar Harbor, ME apparently has a coffee shop worst case. :D